‘Bullying’ campaign after US graduate speech criticises Israel

World
By William

Washington, D.C. – It’s not often that Republicans and Democrats find common ground in the United States, but this week officials from both major parties pursued a common cause: bashing a New York law student for a speech criticizing Israel.

Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres called The City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law graduate “crazy”; former Republican nominee for governor Lee Zeldin described the speech as “raging anti-Semitism”; Mayor Eric Adams characterized it as “words of negativity and division”.

Even Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas joined the pile of convictions against Yemeni-American graduate speaker, Fatima Mohammed. CUNY itself called the speech a “public expression of hatred against people and communities based on their religion, race or political beliefs” in a statement attributed to the chancellor.

The tabloid New York Post put Mohammed on it front page on Tuesday.

But many Palestinian rights advocates seemed baffled by the allegations, insisting that Mohammed was not saying anything hateful or bigoted.

Proponents say the defamation of Muhammad is part of a broader pattern of publicly attacking Israel’s critics in an effort to deter further criticism of the country’s policies.

Adam Shapiro, director of advocacy for Israel-Palestine at Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), a US-based rights group, said pro-Israel organizations and politicians hope such attacks will dissuade Palestinian solidarity activists from speaking out.

“But I think it actually has the opposite effect. I think this encourages more people to speak out,” Shapiro told Al Jazeera.

He highlighted successful legal and political advocacy efforts to push back against “slander campaigns” in recent years.

The speech

Mohammed’s speech was given to the 2023 law school graduating class earlier this month, but started making headlines after it was spotted by some media outlets online last week. From there, it gained exponential national and international attention as more pro-Israel publications and politicians continued to condemn it.

In her 12-minute speech, Mohammed discussed various causes of social justice, highlighting the activism of the student body.

“I want to celebrate CUNY Law as one of the few, if not the only, law school to make a public statement defending the right of its students to organize and speak out against Israeli colonialism,” she said.

The hijab-wearing speaker’s remarks were repeatedly interrupted by applause from fellow graduates in the audience.

Mohammed continued, “Israel continues to indiscriminately rain bullets and bombs on believers, kill the elderly and the young, and even attack funerals and cemeteries, while encouraging lynch mobs to attack Palestinian homes and businesses.”

Her accusations seem consistent with recent Israeli behavior, including attacks on worshipers at Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and a police raid on the funeral of slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh last year.

Earlier this year, a mob of Israeli settlers also looted the Israeli-occupied West Bank town of Huwara, and an Israeli minister said the Palestinian community should be “wiped out”.

“It was ultimately a retrospective of what happened in real life in Palestine,” Shapiro said of the speech.

CUNY did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment for clarification on which part of Muhammad’s speech constituted “hate speech.”

Mohammed also touched on other issues, including the university’s cooperation with law enforcement, calling the New York Police Department “fascist.”

While the speech was decidedly politically charged, Muhammad’s supporters noted that CUNY Law’s mission statement explicitly states that the program is focused on social justice.

“CUNY Law is built on a tradition of radical advocates: Social change movements are built with leadership and collaboration from the people and communities who have experienced injustice,” it reads.

Lawyers defend Mohammed

Activists say the campaign against Mohammed is the latest episode in attacks on pro-Palestinian advocates. Palestinian rights advocates in the US are often accused of anti-Semitism and campaigning to cancel their events and protests.

Professors critical of Israel have lost their jobs as a result of pressure campaigns. Political nominees human rights and diplomatic positions in the government have been withdrawn in recent years due to past criticism of Israel.

But this week, as pro-Israel groups and politicians targeted Muhammad, many Arab, Muslim and Palestinian advocates came to her defense.

Ahmad Abuznaid, executive director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USPCR), praised Muhammad’s speech as “passionate and liberating” against white supremacy, state surveillance and Israeli colonialism.

“Of course, the politicians who defend these oppressive institutions are quick to vilify her as they expose their violent complicity,” Abuznaid said in an email to Al Jazeera.

“We applaud Fatima for her principled speech and look forward to following her pursuit of justice and liberation for all people throughout her legal career.”

The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY) denounced what it called the “silencing of voices” to highlight human rights violations.

“CAIR-NY stands in solidarity with the budding student speaker who valiantly tried to elevate the plight of the Palestinians and the human rights violations they face. We affirm their right to express their views freely and without interference,” Afaf Nasher, executive director of the group, said in a statement.

The New York chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, an anti-occupation group, also praised Muhammad and denounced its critics, accusing them of using Islamophobic tropes to “beat down” and smear the young woman.

“We denounce the false characterization of her speech as anti-Semitic simply because it accurately describes the conditions in which Palestinians live every day. We fully agreed with her that ‘Palestine can no longer be the exception in our pursuit of justice,’” the group said.

Mohammed’s defenders were especially furious at Congressman Torres, a staunch pro-Israel Democrat.

“Imagine being so maddened by hatred of Israel as a Jewish state that you make it the subject of your opening speech at law school graduation,” Torres wrote on Twitter on Sunday. “Anti-Israeli derangement syndrome at work.”

Palestinian-American analyst Yousef Munayyer lashed out at Torres.

“The idea that Muslims are irrationally and uncontrollably possessed by hatred of Jews is a racist and Islamophobic trope that you engage in. Imagine being a coward enough to be a member of Congress who slams a student for speaking out against Apartheid,” Munayyer said in a tweet.

Torres’ office did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

For his part, Shapiro — from DAWN — said Torres was after a young Muslim, hijab-wearing woman with far less power to bolster his pro-Israel credentials.

“This is a classic case of bullying,” Shapiro said.

You might also like More from author